According to the calendar, almanac or whatever you use to gauge sea-sons and dates, summer is on. The best season of the year you say? It’s all personal and depends how much excitement and fun you squeeze out of it annually.
But for Canada’s Indigenous Peoples, Tuesday, June 2I was special.
So at various points throughout the day I tuned in to the nation’s station, CBC radio and listened to various programs highlighting different as-pects of Indigenous history and culture, as well as events happening in various parts of the country highlighting various celebrations.
One thing that caught my ears was a discussion around the issue of in-digenous languages and how people of Indigenous background have been able to protect their languages for hundreds of years, all that in the face of two colonial forces/powers who essentially invaded what so-called “natives” (cum the more appropriate and palatable term “Indige-nous peoples” who had been at the mercy of colonial powers for hun-dreds of years and generations…
In this instance words matter, so Indigenous peoples were finding ap-propriate (descriptive) terms to self identify.
In one of the many discussions interviewers and interviewees spoke of their desire and determination as Indigenous peoples to safeguard, maintain and practice their traditional ways “for thousands of years” de-spite colonial invaders of Turtle Island centuries ago, objective being essentially to change their lives — aboriginal habits and practices…
It’s not that I didn’t know or wasn’t aware of Canada’s “Indian peoples” or their lives under the colonial/Canadian system and their lives as the rightful stewards of the land generally known in history books as Cana-da. Mandatory Canadian history courses in high school in the 1960s did only so much, in keeping with the curriculum ‘of the day’ as it were, from a patronizing English and French colonial standpoint.
In retrospect, what a disservice it was to students sitting in those classes being taught to regurgitate (sanitized) history or religion from an Eng-lish/British teacher and in the case of French mother tongue (Que-becois) students colonial standpoint, in the case of “French” language classes.
By the same token, I wish we had lay people teaching religion, or better yet people of “Indian/Indigenous” background teaching Canadian histo-ry/authentic history of the people who were the true victims of Canada’s atrocities during those ignominious, atrocious, colonial years.
In a sense that celebration at Cabot Square was heralding the arrival of summer 22. Highlighted by drumming, dancing, chanting… and what-ever lends to summer and outdoor celebrations.
Over the coming weeks there will be more of the usual summertime events and celebrations in downtown Montreal — the multi cultural as-pect of a possible return of (the sounds and rhythms of the annual West Indian Carnival, the multi cultural aspect, sounds and rhythms of the an-nual Festival Nuit d’Afrique, the Montreal Blues Festival and other multi-cultural events associated with Montreal’s summertime.
N.B. the premier of Quebec stated he’s not big on “multiculturalism” (af-fairs…) whatever they’re worth in his mind, or help to enhance proverbi-al “Quebec culture).”
One thing is certain, summer’s on… Feel the heat?
The premier recently made it clear that he’s not big on the concept of multiculturalism, at least in the burgeoning/gestating Quebec nation.
That said, the premier’s distaste of Canada’s multiculturalism won’t hamper Quebecers’ desire to enjoy summer ’22 and whatever it entails.
Having being denied summertime celebrations for two years (no thanks to Covid-19), people for the most part won’t allow nationalist politics to kill their summertime fun and whatever it entails for a third consecutive year. Not even (his) nationalist political dictates will hamper or dampen peoples’ desire to get back to doing normal people things, whatever they may be.
Having (not completely) shed my mask, which I’ll aways keep handy in case of emergencies, I’ll continue to live life with some semblance of normality, I will go back to socializing this summer having missed to wedding ceremonies no-thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two others ticked on the social calendar in the coming weeks will complete this summer’s social calendar.
In the meantime, given the premier’s nationalist, cultural state of mind and preoccupation, it’s a safe assumption that none of these summer-time festivals, veritable multicultural events and attendees will factor into his state of mind and interests…
Whatever you do, or your mode of communication, don’t allow lan-guage/ethnocentrism… to impede on you, your social life or mode of summertime fun and enjoyment.
Summer’s on. Go on and live your lives.
As we’re all aware, summer moves quickly. Squeeze as much fun as you possibly can out of it.
As dance group BT Express sang back in the 1970s: “Do It (Til’ You’re Satisfied).”
National Indigenous Peoples Day
